I can think of 14 other teams (well maybe not a few of them) that would have loved to just make the playoffs, so we can definitely go down from here...Lets just hope Holland plops out the loaf that is binding him up and he actually takes a risk at changing this team, finally...It's time to rebuild.

DAN WHATEVER YOUR f****** NAME IS CLEAR OR CLEARLY GET THE f*** OUT OF THIS TEAM BACK GO f****** LEARN TO PLAY MORON I PERSONALY DON'T GIVE A s*** THAT YR LEG IS f***ET UP, PLEASE LIIVE. ANF BABCOCK PLEASE GET READ OF OUR QUINESSSSSSYYYYY HOLLAND YOU JUST HIT THE JUCK f****** POTT!

I think next year they will retake their position on the pedestal of elite NHL teams. Stl and nyr in my opinion are one hit wonders.
If nsh keeps radulov, which I think they will, they will have to let suter go and the wings will pounce on him. (at least they better) that will make Detroit better and Nashville way worse.

If Detroit gets suter, and maybe others, it will be them and LA at the top of the west

GO WINGS

Good rule of thumb is always take an octopus everywhere. Better to have one and not need it than find yourself thinking, "Damn, I wish I had that octopus".

If they're not going to win the Stanley Cup then yeah a 1st round exit is probably up there. Players want to keep playing and Ilitch probably wants to make more money off playoff games but for fans it's probably more preferable in the long-term than a 2nd or perhaps 3rd round exit because then you can say, "Well we were close and bleh bleh bleh."

Z played hard every night and was great, but the other 2 watched him go on numerous rushes by himself against a great preds D. as Babcock said, Dats had NO help. Flip got no bounces and Hudler got 2 lucky goals and should board a plane with Radulov. Franzen was lazy and he sucks so his "playoff beast" label has been removed. Jimmy was really good, but when your team makes pathetic turnovers and plays timbit hockey in the defensive zone, you can't react that quick to every bad bounce they cause. Stuart can have fun in LA, he didn't show up for playoffs cause his bags went to california... Cleary actually played hard, but other than that brought nothing to the table. Babcock could have done a little more with what he had rather than just make excuses. Holland didn't help, but you can't be afraid to call up fresh legs and bench guys that just plain sucked.

Did you guys read the article above on "No time for Gradual Change?" Exactly what we've been talking about, (nothing we don't already know), but a great read still. http://www.detroitne...0313/1128/rss16

Or, I think most of us look at it like Babcock pointed out; it's been 2nd round (which we still consider to be on the "early out" side of things) and then a repeat of the 2nd round to the same team, and now first round...so it's definitely an attention getter.

Yes, many other teams would be satisfied and some even excited about that much playoff activity, but that is not who we are. We are coming from the top and have been in a slippery slope of downward trend since '08.

Don't be surprised if he's never the same - but *knock on wood* all goes well.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

I just hate how we went out this year. No fight, no heart, we laid down like soft little *******. The fact that it was in the 1st round does not bother me half as much as how we went out.

Although quite a few things bothered me about this early of an exit, this is what bothered me the most. First I will say that as a dedicated fan, I understand how lucky I am to have a team that has made the playoffs for the last 21 years and especially those since the lockout. However, at what point does quantity take the place of quality? To me (as I stated in another post), this year felt like the team just wanted to add another consecutive year in the playoffs to the tally and after that, nobody cared. There are excuses that can be made--injuries or half-healed injuries, lack of depth, the refs, etc--but every team has to deal with that in the playoffs. What disturbed me was that this team showed absolutely no pride in the logo they wore on their chests. They played with no heart, no drive. To me it seemed like the team had used any that they had during the 23 game streak. I can live with the Wings being eliminated in the playoffs but why even get there if you play like you are in a game in early October?

I was really upset by the mentality of the team as well. --Babcock saying after game 4 that Mickey Redmond's comments were way off, that the team was getting really good shots on Rinne, and that he wouldn't be changing a thing (one of his worst faults). --The team showing no hustle on the ice. Letting pucks just sit in front of them, allowing the Predators to come to them.--Most of the team displaying an uncharacteristic amount of laziness. Franzen big time--I've never seen him coast so much in games. He needs to spend some time on the third line. Hudler--Yes, he got two goals (which his part was just finishing the shots), but he could not catch any passes and was a severe disadvantage to his line and the endless opportunities they got early in the series. Filppula--Where did the career-high forward disappear to after 4/11? Even Datsyuk--where was the faceoff king, the magician that could hang on to the puck with five guys on him? I could say more about all the guys on the team too.--A team of one, maybe three. Zetterberg was the only one who looked like an NHL player out there. Cleary's 50% sure looked 100 times better than many of his teammates supposed 100%. And Jimmy was very good considering the team in front of him. I can only have issue with him for Game 4 goal 2.

I liked that at some point the lack of heart and pride was acknowledged:"Right now, your thoughts aren't really there," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "Right now it's just an empty feeling. Very disappointed, not only myself but the way our team started the game. We have to be a lot better than that, show a lot more pride than that.''

Let's hope this offseason brings a retooling in personnel but also in the pride and respect one should possess as a Red Wing.